Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1429 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-07
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
One of golf guru Jim Flick's mantras is that golf is 90 percent mental and the other 10 per cent is mental, too. Dr. Bob Rotella, a noted sports psychologist and performance consultant, roots around the golfer's mind to expose--and analyse- -the doubts, the fears and the frustrations that haunt anyone who's ever picked up a club and swung it. Through anecdote and aphorism he suggests how these mental and emotional hazards can be played through, and, regardless of skill level, how teeing off with a more positive and confident outlook will translate into better performance.

Synopsis
Dr Bob Rotella is one of the hottest golfing performance consultants in the world today. Unlike other performance consultants, Rotella goes beyond the usual mental aspects of the game and the reliance on specific techniques. In this extraordinary book, and with his clients, he creates an attitude and a mindset about all aspects of the golfer's game, from mental preparation to competition. And, as some of the world's greatest golfers will attest, the results are spectacular. Filled with charming and insightful stories about golf and the golfers Rotella works with, GOLF IS NOT A GAME OF PERFECT will improve the game of even the most casual weekend player.

Customer Reviews

Good advice but a bit long winded
I like the Bob Rotella books and find them helpful. The advice can be summarised in just a few pages, but he builds his chapters around the points so that they are a bit more memorable. This will help many golfers and I think it has helped me a bit, but nowhere near as much as improving my technique through mixture of coaching, practice and the odd DVD/technical book. Ultimately if you have good technique the mental side becomes a lot easier as you hit good consistent shots a lot better and think less about your technique when on the course as a result. Also many of the mental lessons are learned through experience anyway eg loosing your temper after a bad shot often affects your next shot if you are not careful and you do not need a book to learn this. Nevertheless, a good read that I still ocassionally refer to as a refresher.

Just Common Sense - probably
This is an excellent book. I personally have the audio book too which I listen to regularly in the car. There is nothing weird, its not psycho mumbo jumbo. The book is just plain common sense and will just teach you how to execute you golf more thoroughly. Like all things in life the simpler the better and it just sometimes takes someone else to tell you what you already knew. Tom Kite quotes that if you lapse in concentration on 3 or 4 shots per round and if each lapse only costs you 1 shot, that's 12 to 16 shots on a four day tournament and that's the difference between being the all time leading money winner and loosing your card. In amateur land, who wouldn't want to be better by 4 or more shots around just by thinking better?

It's just common sense
Dr Bob Rotella is extremely well known in golf education for his advice on how to train your mind to play your best golf. He has helped some distinguished players including Tom Kite.

His basic philosophy is:
1. Believe you can achieve your golfing dream.
2. Have no swing thoughts or any thoughts about swing mechanics when you play.
3. Focus on a target for the ball: the smaller the better.
4. Stay in the present: forget previous shots (good and bad), don't think about the score for the round (good or bad). This will only distract you.

I have awarded this a one star. This is perhaps harsh, perhaps a three star would be appropriate but here is why I did:

My average handicap is 25 (27 in competition). I have been playing for three years and in the past 7 months as much as 5 or 6 times a week. I eat, sleep and dream golf. I devour new books and DVDs from the big names and some of the less well known.

I regularly watched the golf channel UK (RIP) and read Golf Digest online. My best rounds are around 85. My theoretical best (best scores per hole on different days) is 63.

In spite of starting this great game of golf at the age of 40, I've done well in many other sports and activities (squash, snowboarding, fencing, motorsport, aviation) and believe I should be able to play at a good level: regularly in the 80s and why not, with training and perseverance, in the 70s.

In short, my profile matches that of the target reader for this book. I had high expectations of this book and was hoping to discover new information and techniques on how to train my mind to get the best from my golf.

In reality, I found nothing new here. Most of the advice really is common sense and common place in all the golf related material I've encountered. Bob spends too much time covering what not to think. In the audio version, Bob drones on so much he sent me to sleep. Sadly, I have to say, the book is not worth the money and I can not recommend it.